Method and apparatus for controlling a home device remotely in a home network system

ABSTRACT

Provided is a remote control method and apparatus in a home network system including multiple home devices. The remote control method includes receiving operation state information from the respective multiple home devices, receiving a control command for operation control of at least one of the multiple home devices from a user device, determining a control target home device based on the control command, sending the control command to the determined control target home device, receiving processing result information corresponding to execution of the control command from the control target home device, and transmitting the processing result information to the user device.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to a KoreanPatent Application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office onDec. 18, 2012 and assigned Serial No. 10-2012-0148738, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure generally relates to a home network system, andmore particularly, to a method and apparatus for remotely controlling anoperation of a home device.

2. Description of the Related Art

A home network system refers to a system in which various home devicesinstalled in home are connected over a wired or wireless network toenable communication between the home devices. An advanced home networksystem integrates home devices through a Home Gateway (HGW or H-GW) toconnect them over an external public data network, for example, anInternet Protocol (IP) network (that is, the Internet), thus providing awider variety of services associated with the Internet. The home networksystem may control home devices according to users' demands to provideservices desired by the users.

As types of home devices have been diversified and users' demands havealso been diversified accordingly, a need has arisen for much effort toaccept various users' demands and provide the best services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a methodand apparatus for remotely controlling an operation of a home device ina home network system.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method andapparatus for remotely controlling an operation of a home device byusing a voice command in a home network system.

Still another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a methodand apparatus for remotely controlling an operation of a home device ona room basis in a home network system.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method andapparatus for controlling an operation of a home device based on a userprofile in a home network system.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a remote control method in a home network system includingmultiple home devices, the remote control method including receivingoperation state information from the respective multiple home devices,receiving a control command for operation control of at least one of themultiple home devices from a user device, determining a control targethome device based on the control command, sending the control command tothe determined control target home device, receiving processing resultinformation corresponding to execution of the control command from thecontrol target home device, and transmitting the processing resultinformation to the user device.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a gateway apparatus for remote control in a home network systemincluding multiple home devices, the gateway apparatus including atleast one communication module configured to communicate with themultiple home devices and a user device in a wired/wireless manner and acontroller configured to control operations of receiving operation stateinformation from the respective multiple home devices, receiving acontrol command for operation control of at least one of the multiplehome devices from a user device, determining a control target homedevice based on the control command, sending the control command to thedetermined control target home device, receiving processing resultinformation corresponding to execution of the control command from thecontrol target home device, and transmitting the processing resultinformation to the user device.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present disclosure, thereis provided a remote control method in a home network system includingmultiple home devices, the remote control method including sending acontrol command for operation control of at least one of the multiplehome devices to a Home GateWay (HGW) that collects operation stateinformation of the multiple home devices and controls operations of themultiple home devices and receiving processing result informationcorresponding to execution of the control command from the HGW inresponse to the sending of the control command, in which the controlcommand is generated by recognizing a voice command of a user.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present disclosure, thereis provided a user device for remote control in a home network systemincluding multiple home devices, the user device including at least onecommunication module configured to communicate with a network entitythat controls operations of the multiple home devices and a controllerconfigured to control operations of sending a control command foroperation control of at least one of the multiple home devices to a HomeGateWay (HGW) that collects operation state information of the multiplehome devices and controls operations of the multiple home devices andreceiving processing result information corresponding to execution ofthe control command from the HGW in response to the sending of thecontrol command, in which the control command is generated byrecognizing a voice command of a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a home networksystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a homenetwork system connectable with a mobile terminal according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a homenetwork system remotely controlled through a mobile terminal recognizinga voice command according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a Home Gateway(HGW) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile terminalaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a home networksystem that remotely controls an operation of a home device according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a home networksystem that recognizes a voice command to remotely control an operationof a home device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a ladder diagram illustrating a procedure for registering ahome device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a ladder diagram illustrating a procedure for registering amobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating determining remote control procedureexecuted in a home network system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 10A to 12 are diagrams illustrating various examples of a UserInterface (UI) screen displayed on a mobile terminal in execution ofremote control according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a ladder diagram illustrating a remote control procedureexecuted in a home network system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a ladder diagram illustrating a procedure for providing anoperation state of a home device in the form of video information inexecution of remote control in a home network system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a ladder diagram illustrating a remote control procedureexecuted in a home network system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 16 is a ladder diagram illustrating a remote control procedurebased on a user profile in a home network system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description of the present disclosure, a detaileddescription of known functions and configurations incorporated hereinwill be omitted when it may obscure the subject matter of the presentdisclosure. Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosurewill be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a home networksystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referringto FIG. 1, a home network system may include home devices 110 and a HomeGateWay (HGW) 120 having control and communication functions. The homedevices 110 may include smart appliances 112, security devices 114,lighting devices 116, and energy devices 118 that are located in home.For example, the smart appliances 112 may include a refrigerator, awashing machine, a robot vacuum cleaner, and the like. The securitydevices 114 may include a door lock system, a security camera, asecurity sensor, and so forth. The lighting devices 116 may include afluorescent light, Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting device and thelike. The energy devices 118 may include a power meter, a power socket,an electric outlet, a multi-tap, and so forth. The home devices 110 mayalso include a Personal Computer (PC), an Internet Protocol (IP) camera,an Internet phone, a wired/wireless phone, and a mobile phone.

The home devices 110 may communicate with the HGW 110 in a wired orwireless manner, and may receive a control command from the HGW 120 andtransmit requested information to the HGW 120. The HGW 120 may includecommunication modules for communicating with the home devices 110 basedon a wired communication or a wireless communication, a storing unit forregistering and storing information of the home devices 110, and acontroller for controlling operations and states of the home devices110, collecting needed information from the home devices 110, andmanaging the collected information. In particular, the HGW 120 allowsconnection from an external communication terminal (not illustrated)through a communication network 130 and transmits a control signalreceived from the external communication terminal to a correspondinghome device through the HGW 120. The communication network 130 mayinclude at least one of an Internet Protocol (IP) network such as theInternet and a wireless network to which the mobile terminal isconnectible.

The home network system as illustrated in FIG. 1 may provide a homeentertainment service, such as an Internet TV (IPTV) and a Video onDemand (VoD), which use the communication network 130, a home datacommunication service, such as data sharing, Voice over IP (VoIP), andvideo communication, and a home automation service, such as remotecontrol and remote gauge examination of electronic appliances, crimeprevention, and disaster prevention. That is, the home network systemillustrated in FIG. 1 connects most of the home devices 110 used insideand outside the home through a single network to control them. Thus, inthe specification, the expression “in home” may be understood as“inside/outside home”.

The user may connect to the HGW 120 included in the home network systemand to each home device 110 through the HGW 120, by using an externalcommunication terminal, for example, wireless communication equipmentlike a mobile terminal, in remote areas. For example, the mobileterminal may be a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) having acommunication function, a smartphone, a cellular phone, a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, or the like, and may connect to the homenetwork system through a common carrier network and the Internet.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a homenetwork system connectable with a mobile terminal according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the home devices 110-1 to 110-n (110) in the homenetwork system connects to the HGW 120 based on a wired or wirelesscommunication. The HGW 120 connects to a wired network 130 a such as theInternet.

A registered mobile terminal 200 connects to a wireless network 130 bincluding a wireless access network and a carrier core network, andaccesses the HGW 120 through the wired network 130 a connected with thewireless network 130 b. The wireless network 130 b may comply with a2^(nd) Generation (2G) or 3^(rd) Generation (3G) cellular communicationsystem, the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a 4^(th)Generation (4G) communication system, the Long-Term Evolution (LTE), andWorld Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), or the like. In themobile terminal 200, a remote control application is installed toindividually or commonly control operations of the home devices 140connected with the HGW 120 and designate and control some of theoperations of the home devices 140. Once the remote control applicationis executed, a control command for controlling an operation of thecorresponding home device 140 according to a user's key input, touchinput, or gesture input is delivered to the HGW 120 from the mobileterminal 200 via the wireless network 130 b and the wired network 130 a,and the HGW 120 controls the operation of the corresponding home device140 according to the control command.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a homenetwork system remotely controlled through a mobile terminal recognizinga voice command according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2B, at least one voice recognition sensors 115-1 to115-m (115) that recognizes a user's voice command for controllingoperations of the home devices 110 through a voice are connected to theHGW 120 illustrated in FIG. 2A in a wireless or wired manner.

The voice recognition sensor 115 may be installed in home to be coupledto the home device 110 (in which the voice recognition sensor 115 ismounted on the home device 110) or to be separated from the home device110. In another embodiment, the voice recognition sensor 115 may beinstalled on a room basis in home. The user's voice command recognizedthrough the voice recognition sensor 115 is delivered to the HGW 120,which then recognizes the voice command using a voice recognitionalgorithm to control the operation of the corresponding home device 110.The voice recognition algorithm may use various well-known voicerecognition algorithms.

The mobile terminal 200 may access the HGW 120 through the wirelessnetwork 130 b and the wired network 130 a as illustrated in FIG. 2A. Themobile terminal 200 recognizes a voice command of a user 10, which isinput through a microphone (not illustrated), converts the voice commandinto a control command recognizable by the HGW 120, and delivers thecontrol command to the HGW 120. The control command may be configured inthe form of a packet including identification information of the homedevice 110 and control details. The control details may include acontrol command for a detailed operation as well as power on/off. Thepacket carrying the control command may include user authenticationinformation of the mobile terminal 200.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an HGW accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. The HGW 120 illustrated inFIG. 3 may include at least one of illustrated components.

Referring to FIG. 3, the HGW 120 is connected with multiple home devices110-1 to 110-n by using at least one communication modules 122 to 126and 132. The communication modules 122 to 126 and 132 include at leastone of various wireless or wired communication protocol-based modules,such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module 122 such as WiFi, aZigBee module 123, a Bluetooth® module 124, a Near-Field Communication(NFC) module 125, a Z-WAVE module 132, and a wired communication module126. The Z-WAVE module 122-6 adopts one of Radio Frequency (RF)techniques widely used for device control like home automation. The HGW120 may include a controller 121, a network interface module 127, a UserInterface (UI) 128, and a storage 129.

The controller 121 may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 121-1, aRead-Only Memory (ROM) 121-2 having stored therein a control program forcontrolling the HGW 120, and a Random Access Memory (RAM) 121-3 used asa memory region for a task performed in the HGW 120. The controller 121communicates with the home devices 110-1 to 110-n through thecommunication modules 122 to 126 by execution of programs stored in theROM 121-2 or the RAM 121-3 or application programs that may be stored inthe storage 129, and generates a control command to send the controlcommand to the home devices 110-1 to 110-n or stores informationcollected from the home devices 110-1 to 110-n in the storage 129.

The UI 128 may include an output module such as a display, a speaker, anindication lamp, or the like, and an input module (not illustrated) suchas a touch screen, a keypad, a microphone, or the like. The UI 128 maybe used for a user to directly control the HGW 120, register or deletethe home devices 110-1 to 110-n in or from the HGW 120, or control thehome devices 110-1 to 110-n through the HGW 120.

The network interface 127 may be, for example, an Internet communicationmodule and connects the HGW 120 to an external network.

The storage 129 is configured to store program codes, data, orinformation needed for operations of the HGW 120 under control of thecontroller 121, and may also store voluminous data delivered fromexternal devices or the home devices 110-1 to 110 n when necessary.

The HGW 120 may include a voice recognition module 131 that interprets avoice command delivered from the voice recognition sensor 115illustrated in FIG. 2B and delivers the voice command to the controller121. For example, if the voice command is “Clean the living room”, thevoice recognition module 131 recognizes “clean” and “living room” andinterprets “clean” as a command to be delivered to a vacuum cleaner (notillustrated) among the home devices 110 and “living room” as a cleaninglocation. The controller 121 sends a control command instructing thevacuum cleaner to “clean” the “living room” to the vacuum cleaner amongthe home devices 110 through the communication modules 122 to 126.

In another embodiment, if the user's voice command is delivered to theHGW 120 through the mobile terminal 200 rather than the voicerecognition sensor 115 in home, then the mobile terminal 200 generatesthe control command configured in the form of a packet described in theembodiment of FIG. 2B, and delivers the generated control command to theHGW 120, such that the voice recognition module 131 of FIG. 3 may beomitted.

In still another embodiment, if there are multiple users, the HGW 120may store user profiles for the multiple users and perform user-specificvoice recognition through the voice recognition module 131 to controlthe home devices 110-1 to 110-n based on a user profile of thecorresponding recognized user. The user profile may includeuser-specific voice information for recognizing a voice of each user andauthority information for performing control in a predeterminedauthority range for each user. The user-specific voice information maybe registered or stored to identify each user through the mobileterminal 200 having a voice recognition function or the HGW 120including the voice recognition module 131.

In regard to user profiles, assuming users A and B having differentauthorities, the user profiles may be registered and stored such thatthe user A may have a control authority for all of the home devices110-1 to 110-n in home and the user B may have a control authority forsome of the home devices 110-1 to 110-n in home. The user profiles maybe registered and stored through the HGW 120 or the mobile terminal 200.A user having an administrator authority may regulate a controlauthority of another user. User-profile-specific control may beperformed through the HGW 120 or the mobile terminal 200. In the mobileterminal 200, an administration program for registering and storing theuser profiles may be installed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile terminalaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The mobileterminal may include at least one of components illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 4, the mobile terminal 200 may include a controller210, a cellular mobile communication module 220, a sub communicationmodule 222, a multimedia module 228, a camera module 236, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) module 238, an input/output module 244, asensor module 242, a storage 258, a power supply unit 240, and at leastone display module 260. The camera module 236 and the GPS module 238 areselectively included. The sub communication module 130 may include atleast one of a WLAN module 224 and a short-range communication module226, and the multimedia module 228 may include at least one of abroadcast communication module 230, an audio playback module 232, and avideo playback module 234. The camera module 236 may include at leastone camera, and the input/output module 244 may include at least one ofa button set 246, a microphone 248, a speaker 250, a vibration motor252, a connector 254, and a keypad 256.

The controller 210 may include a CPU 210-1, a ROM 210-2 having storedtherein a control program for controlling the mobile terminal 200, and aRAM 210-3 that memorizes a signal or data input from outside the mobileterminal 200 or is used as a memory region for a task performed in themobile terminal 200, and the controller 210 controls the othercomponents of the mobile terminal 200.

The cellular communication module 220 uses a wireless access techniquebased on a cellular communication protocol under control of thecontroller 210 to allow the mobile terminal 200 to be connected to anexternal device (in particular, a base station of a cellular system) viaat least one or a plurality of antennas (not illustrated). The cellularcommunication module 220 transmits/receives a wireless signal includingvoice communication, video communication, a Short Messaging Service(SMS) message, or a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message to/fromother devices capable of performing communication. The cellularcommunication module 220 transmits/receives a wireless signal includingshort data for controlling an application or the like. The WLAN module224 connects to the Internet in a place where a wireless Access Point(AP, not illustrated) is installed, under control of the controller 210.The short-range communication module 226 wirelessly performs short-rangecommunication between the mobile terminal 200 and an external deviceunder control of the controller 210. Short-range communication mayinclude Bluetooth®, ZigBee, Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Z-WAVE,and so forth.

The display module 260 may include a touch screen that displaysinformation of various applications (for example, call, datatransmission, broadcasting, a camera, or the like) executable by thecontroller 210 and provides a UI configured correspondingly. Thecontroller 210 allows a soft key displayed on the touch screen 260 to beselected or executes an application or a function corresponding to thesoft key in response to a user gesture sensed on the touch screen. Theuser gesture may include a touch by a finger or a tool, recognition of amotion of a human body, and so forth.

In the mobile terminal illustrated in FIG. 4, the remote controlapplication described in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A isinstalled in the ROM 210-2 or the storage 258, and upon execution of theremote control application, a control command for controlling anoperation of the corresponding home device 140 according to a user's keyinput or touch input or a user's gesture input using an accelerationsensor or a gyro sensor is generated and delivered to the HGW 120. Thecontrol command may be sent to the HGW 120 through the communicationnetwork 130 or a communication means such as Power Line Communications(PLCs), WiFi, ZigBee, or the like.

The storage 258 stores various applications, contents, and data for useof the user device and stores operation state information of the homedevices 140 provided from the HGW 120 according to remote control of thepresent invention and processing result information associated with theoperation state information.

When voice recognition is used as in the embodiment illustrated in FIG.2B, the remote control application includes a voice recognitionfunction, and a user's voice command input through the microphone 250after execution of the remote control application is sent to thecontroller 210. The controller 210 then performs a function of theremote control application, converts the voice command into a controlcommand recognizable by the HGW 120, and sends the control command tothe HGW 120. The control command may be configured I the form of apacket including identification information of the corresponding homedevice 110 and content data.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, after executing anoperation corresponding to the control command, the home device 140feeds information indicating the processing result back to the HGW 120.Then, the HGW 120 transmits the information indicating the processingresult (hereinafter, referred to as processing result information) tothe mobile terminal 200, and the remote control application of themobile terminal 200 provides a UI showing the processing result. The UImay be provided in various forms such as audio effects, a voice message,a text message, icon indication, animation, and so forth.

In the home network system implemented as in the foregoing embodiments,a user situated outside may monitor an in-home situation of the homedevice 110 through the mobile terminal 200. In this case, the userconnects to the HGW 120 by using a mobile terminal 200 or computingdevice carried by the user, and controls at least one of the homedevices 110-1 to 110-n registered through the HGW 120 to monitor thein-home situations. To this end, at least one of the home devices 110-1to 110-n includes a digital camera capable of capturing an in-homesituation in the form of a still or moving image.

In the foregoing examples, the user's control command for controllingthe home devices 140 is sent to the HGW 120 through the mobile terminal200, but the same function may also be performed using various smartdevices (hereinafter, referred to as a “user device”) in which theremote control application may be installed, such as a user's tablet PC,IP-based wired/wireless phone, multi-function remote controller, smartTV, or the like, as well as the mobile terminal 200. If the remotecontrol application is provided in the form of, for example, a widget,the operation state of the home device 140 may be indicated through thewidget on a real time basis, periodically, or on a request basis.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a home networksystem that remotely controls an operation of a home device according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. Like components that havealready been described in FIGS. 1 and 4 will not be described in detail.

In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the HGW 120 registersinformation of multiple devices 140 and collects operation stateinformation corresponding to operations of the home devices 140periodically or on a request basis to identify an operation state ofeach home device 140. Locations of the multiple home devices 140 areregistered on an in-home room basis. In FIG. 5, reference numerals 140-1through 140-n denote at least one home device corresponding to indicatedrooms. The multiple home devices 140 of FIG. 5 correspond to the homedevices 110 of FIG. 1.

The HGW 120 communicates with a user device such as the mobile terminal200, a tablet PC, or a smart TV to provide operation state informationof the home devices 140 to the user device. In the following embodimentof the present disclosure, suppose that the mobile terminal 200 is usedas the user device for convenience' sake.

The operation state information transmitted to the HGW 120 from eachhome device 140 and the processing result information corresponding toexecution of the control command may be transmitted from the home device140 to the HGW 120 by using a communication means, for example, PLC,WiFi, ZigBee, or the like. The HGW 120 variably sets an interval ofcollecting the operation state information transmitted from the homedevices 140. The HGW 120 stores floor plan information showing anin-home room-specific location, and registers and manages the locationsof the home devices 140 on a room basis. Herein, the floor planinformation may be provided from a server (not shown) of an operatorestablishing the home network system to the HGW 120 or may be directlyinput by the user to the HGW 120 using a PC 210. The floor planinformation may be provided to include selectable or editable variousdesigns of floor plans if a user's home address is input through aportable site provided by the operator. In this case, the user mayselect or edit a floor plan design depending on user's taste. Forexample, the mobile terminal 200 provides a UI to modify an in-doorfloor plan according to user's demands (for example, to remove a wallbetween rooms or increase the size of a room). The user-desired floorplan design may be selected using the portal site or through varioususer devices, such as the mobile terminal 200, communication-connectedwith the HGW 120.

The current location of each home device 140 may be directly registeredin the HGW 120 or may be detected using an RF tag, sensor, or the likeprovided in each home device 140. The location information of each homedevices 140 is mapped to a name of a room where the home device 140 isplaced, for example, a kitchen for a refrigerator, a living room for aTV, or the like. The location information may have a location in whicheach home device 140 is generally installed, as a default value. Byusing a UI on the in-home floor plan displayed on the mobile terminal200, the user may also drag and drop an icon of each home device 140from one room to another room or change a room-specific or in-roomlocation of the home device 140 on the floor plan using a gesture like atouch or a voice command.

The mobile terminal 200 may receive room-specific location informationof the home devices 140 and the floor plan information from the HGW 120and provide a UI that visually displays an in-home operation state orcontrol command processing result, a room-specific operation state orcontrol command processing result, or a home-device-specific operationstate or control command processing result of the home devices 140 onthe in-home floor plan. The operation state or control commandprocessing result may be indicated by an icon varying with an operationstate on the UI.

The voice recognition sensor 115 in FIG. 5 may be installed tocorrespond to, for example, the home device 140 of each room. A user'svoice command recognized by the voice recognition sensor 115 installedin a particular room may be limited to be applied as a control commandfor controlling an operation of the home device 140 in the room throughthe HGW 120. In another embodiment, when the voice recognition sensor115 and the home device 140 are located in different rooms, a controlcommand corresponding to a voice command may be applied to the homedevice 140.

The HGW 120 calculates a consumption fee based on the power consumptionof the home devices 140 and the power unit-price information to provideconsumption fee information. The HGW 120, upon receiving a consumptionfee information request from the mobile terminal 200, transmitscalculated consumption fee information to the mobile terminal 200. Uponreceiving the consumption fee information, the mobile terminal 200configures, for example, a bill layout, and displays a consumption feein the configured bill layout.

In the home network system illustrated in FIG. 5, the HGW 120 registersinformation of the home devices 140 installed in home, and controls andmanages the registered home devices 140. For example, if a new homedevice is installed, the HGW 120 collects and stores information aboutthe new home device, for example, an identifier, capacity information,and operation state information of the home device. The informationabout the home device may be obtained directly from the home devicethrough a service discovery procedure between the HGW 120 and the homedevice, may be received by the HGW 120 from a server on the Internetbased on identification information provided from the home device, ormay be directly input to the HGW 120 by the user or a systemadministrator. If the user purchases and installs the new home device,and inputs identification information, for example, a serial number, amodel number, or a Quick Response (QR) code, provided from the homedevice or a manual thereof into the HGW 120, then the HGW 120 mayconnect to a manufacturer server on the Internet based on theidentification information of the home device and obtain the informationabout the home device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a home networksystem that recognizes a voice command and remotely controls anoperation of the home device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, in which a voice command is input through the mobileterminal 200 to control an operation of a laundry machine located in aroom (for example, a laundry room) and control an operation of a robotvacuum cleaner located in another room (for example, a living room).

In FIG. 6, it is assumed that a laundry machine 141, a Closed Circuit TV(CCTV) 143, and an electric lamp 145 are installed as fixed home devices140 a in a room (for example, the laundry room). The fixed home devices140 a may be connected with the HGW 120 through a wired interface or maybe connected with the HGW 120 through a wireless interface. It is alsoassumed that a robot vacuum cleaner 147 having a moving function islocated as a mobile home device in another room (for example, the livingroom). The robot vacuum cleaner 147 may be connected with the HGW 120through the wireless interface.

In an example of FIG. 6, the voice command of the user 10 forcontrolling the operation of the laundry machine 141 is generated as acontrol command and delivered to the HGW 120 through the mobile terminal200, and the HGW 200 controls the operation of the laundry machine 141according to the control command. Likewise, the operation of the robotvacuum machine 147 may also be controlled.

In the example of FIG. 6, if the user 10 desires to check the operationstate of the laundry machine 141 through the mobile terminal 200, theuser 10 may turn on the CCTV 143 and the light lamp 145 together in thesame manner and may receive image information including the operationstate of the laundry machine 141, which is output through the CCTV 143,through the mobile terminal 200.

FIG. 7 is a ladder diagram illustrating a procedure for registering ahome device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7, in step 701, the home device 140 is installed andan operating power is supplied. The user determines to register thealready installed home device 140 in the HGW 120. In step 703, the HGW120 performs a discovery procedure for the home device 140. For example,if the home device 140 is connected to the HGW 120 through WiFi, the HGW120 performs a discovery procedure for a neighboring new home deviceperiodically or at the request of the user. If the home device 140 isdiscovered through the discovery procedure, the HGW 120 receives homedevice information from the home device 140. The home device informationmay include at least one of identification information and capacityinformation of the home device 140. In a selectable embodiment, theidentification information may include a product code indicating aproduct type (an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a Light Emitting Diode(LED) lamp, or the like) of the home device 140.

In a selectable embodiment, in step 705, the HGW 120 receives aregistration request for the home device 140 to be registered from theuser through a UI of the HGW 120, a control console connected by anexternal interface, or a computer on the Internet, and receivesinformation about the home device 140 from the user. In anotherembodiment, the HGW 120 obtains identification information of the homedevice 140 from the home device 140 or the user, and connects to amanufacturer server of the home device 140 based on the identificationinformation to obtain capacity information of the home device 140.

In step 707, the HGW 120 stores the information about the home device140 and manages the home device 140 as the registered home device 140.In a selectable embodiment, the HGW 20 may receive additionalinformation about the home device 140 from the user or from a remoteterminal through the Internet or WiFi. The additional information mayinclude at least one of, for example, a name or nickname of the homedevice 140 and a location where the home device 140 is installed.

In a selectable embodiment, the HGW 120 may receive additionalinformation about an operation mode and/or an authority of the homedevice 140 directly from the user, or from the remote terminal throughthe Internet or WiFi. The additional information may include, forexample, a level of an access authority for the home device 140. Thelevel of the access authority may include, for example, permission foran access through the HGW 120, permission for an access by a registeredremote terminal, or permission for an access to the HGW 120 by aregistered remote terminal.

In step 709, the HGW 120 sets connection with the home device 140.Setting the connection is performed in a procedure determined based onWiFi, ZigBee, Bluetooth®, NFC, or a wired communication, depending on acommunication method between the HGW 120 and the home device 140. Onceconnection is set between the HGW 120 and the home device 140, the homedevice 140 transmits data to the HGW 120 through the set connection instep 711. In an embodiment, the home device 140 transmits operationstate information to the HGW 120 periodically or at the request of theHGW 120.

In step 713, the HGW 20 sends a control command to the home device 140.The control command may be delivered to the home device 140 from themobile terminal 200 through the HGW 120 as in an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In a selectable embodiment, the control command maybe set to be suitable for characteristics of each product, taking aproduct type of the home device 140 into account. The control commandmay set a current operating condition to be maintained or an operatingcondition to be changed stepwise. The control command may be set incommon to the multiple home devices 140, or different control commandsmay be set for the multiple home devices 140. The control command istransmitted to the HGW 120 from the user device through a user's keyinput or touch input like a gesture or a user's voice command, and theHGW 120 transmits the received control command to the home device 140.

FIG. 8 is a ladder diagram illustrating a procedure for registering amobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8, in step 801, the mobile terminal 200 installs aremote control application that supports remote control of the HGW 120.In a selectable embodiment, the remote control application may beinstalled only in the mobile terminal 200 of the user having passedthrough a predetermined authentication procedure. In an embodiment, theHGW 120 provides an authentication number, and the HGW 120, amanufacturer's server that manages the HGW 120, or an external serverthat provides the remote control application permits downloading of theremote control application only by the mobile terminal 200 of the userinputting the authentication number.

In a selectable embodiment, the remote control application may provide alimited function according to a permitted authority level of the mobileterminal 200. For example, the remote control application mayselectively provide at least one of information inquiry through the HGW120, reception of alarm information from the HGW 120, and partial orentire control of the home devices 140, depending on the permittedauthority level. The permitted authority level may be set through theHGW 120, the manufacturer server that manages the HGW 120, or theexternal server that provides the remote control application.

In step 803, the mobile terminal 200 executes the remote controlapplication and sends a registration request message to the HGW 120through the remote control application. The remote control applicationmay be delivered to the HGW 120 through the Internet, or to the HGW 120through WiFi. The registration request message may include at least oneof an identifier of the mobile terminal 200 (for example, an MSIdentifier (MSID) or an International Mobile Subscriber Identify(IMSI)), login ID and password, authority information, and operationmode information.

In a selectable embodiment, in step 805, the HGW 120 receives theregistration request for the mobile terminal 200 to be registered fromthe user through the UI of the HGW 120, a control console connected byan external interface, or a computer on the Internet, and receivesinformation about the mobile terminal 200, for example, authorityinformation and/or operation mode information, from the user.

In a selectable embodiment, in step 809, the HGW 120 connects to aserver that manages subscriber information of a mobile communicationsystem based on the identification information obtained from the mobileterminal 200 or the identification information of the mobile terminal200 obtained from the user to authenticate the mobile terminal 200. Ifthe authority information of the mobile terminal 200 is not input to theHGW 120, the HGW 120 may generate the authority information of themobile terminal 200 based on a result of the authentication.

In step 811, the HGW 120 stores the information about the mobileterminal 200 and manages the mobile terminal 200 as the registeredmobile terminal 200. In step 813, the HGW 120 sends a registrationacknowledgement message indicating that the information about the mobileterminal 200 has been successfully registered to the mobile terminal200. In step 813, the HGW 120 may also transmit data needed for remotecontrol of the home devices 140 to the mobile terminal 200. The neededdata may include, for example, operation state information of the homedevices 140.

In step 815, the user of the mobile terminal 200 having received theoperation state information may send a control command for controllingan operation of the home device 140 to the HGW 120 by using a UIprovided through the remote control application. The control commandcorresponding to the energy saving mode is sent to the HGW 120 from themobile terminal 200 illustrated in FIG. 4 through a user's key input ortouch input such as a gesture or a user's voice command, and the HGW 120delivers the received control command to the home device 140. Althoughnot shown, processing result information of the home device 140 that hasperformed a corresponding operation according to the control command maybe provided as feedback information to the mobile terminal 200.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a remote control procedure executed ina home network system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9, suppose that the mobile terminal200 is used as a user device and the operations of the home devices 140a located in the laundry room and the operation of the robot vacuumcleaner 147 located in the living room among home devices are controlledthrough a voice command as in the example of FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 9, in step 901, if the user 10 desires to operate thein-home laundry machine 141 from a remote place, a remote controlapplication for remote control of the home device is executed in themobile terminal 200. To this end, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, the mobileterminal 200 provides an icon 1001 for executing the installed remotecontrol application and executes the remote control application ifsensing a user gesture 1003, for example, a touch on the icon 1001. Inanother example, the remote control application may also be executedthrough voice.

Upon execution of the remote control application, the mobile terminal200 provides a guide message 1005 and an icon 1007 for input of a voicecommand as illustrated in FIG. 10B, and if a user's voice command, forexample, “Operate the laundry machine” or “Start laundry”, is input, thevoice command of the user 10 is generated as a control command in theform of a packet including identification information of the laundrymachine 141, control details corresponding to a laundry machineoperating command, and user authentication information, through themobile terminal 200 and delivers to the HGW 120 through thecommunication network 130.

In step 903, the HGW 120 having received the control command determinesthat the user 10 is an authorized user based on the user authenticationinformation, and determines that a control target home device is thelaundry machine 141 based on the identification information. The HGW 120then sends a control command for starting laundry to the laundry machine141. If the laundry machine 141 is in a power-off state, the HGW 120sends a control command for first turning on the laundry machine 141 andthen starting laundry. Operation state information of the laundrymachine 141 may be delivered to the HGW 120 periodically or at therequest, and the operation state information may be provided to themobile terminal 200 in step 909. Thus, laundry progress such as startlaundry=>during a laundry cycle=>during a spin-dry cycle=>during a drycycle, and so forth, may be checked in real time through the mobileterminal 200. As above, the HGW 120 having received the control commandmay check a power on/off state and an operation state of a correspondinghome device.

In another embodiment, if determining that the home device is in a stateof being unable to perform the user's control command or is in amalfunction state, the HGW 120 stops execution of the control commandand sends a message indicating the unable state or malfunction state ofthe home device to the mobile terminal 200.

If the user 10 inputs a voice command, for example, “Operate the laundrymachine” or “Clean”, through the remote control application duringoperation of the laundry machine 141 in step 901, then the voice commandof the user 10 is generated as a control command in the form of a packetincluding identification of the robot vacuum cleaner 147, controldetails corresponding to a cleaner operation command, and userauthentication information through the mobile terminal 200 and deliveredto the HGW 120 through the communication network 130.

In step 905, the HGW 120 sends a control command for instructing therobot vacuum cleaner 147 located in another room (for example, theliving room) to start cleaning in the same manner as in control of theoperation of the laundry machine of step 903. Likewise, the operationstate information of the robot vacuum cleaner 147 may be delivered tothe HGW 120 periodically or at the request, and the operation stateinformation may be provided to the mobile terminal 200 in step 909. Uponcompleting execution of the control commands, the laundry machine 141and the robot vacuum cleaner 147 transmit respective processing resultinformation to the HGW 120 which then transmits the received processingresult information to the mobile terminal 200.

In another embodiment, when desiring to select a control target homedevice or check overall operation states of home devices in home in step901, the user 10 may request the HGW 120 to transmit in-home floor planinformation including operation state information of the home devices.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of floor plan informationtransmitted to a mobile terminal in a home network system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure, and in FIG. 11, it is assumedthat a robot vacuum cleaner among home devices in home operatesaccording to the procedure illustrated in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIG. 11, an in-home floor pan 1100 displayed on the mobileterminal 200 may include icons 1101 a and 1101 b indicating whether homedevices are in operation on a room basis. As in an example illustratedin FIG. 11, if a robot vacuum cleaner 111 is in operation, the icon 1101b in a corresponding room (Living Room) and icons 1101 a in other rooms(Room 1, Room 2, Room 3, Kitchen, and so forth) are indicated indifferent forms or in different colors. If the user touches a region ofthe room (Living Room) or inputs a voice command such as “Show me theoperation state of the living room”, then operation states of multiplehome devices (for example, the vacuum cleaner, the light lamp, the airconditioner, and the TV) located in the corresponding room (the livingroom) are displayed in different forms or in different colors as shownon a display window 1110. In FIG. 11, the robot vacuum cleaner 1111 isin operation, such that “Vacuum Cleaner” is displayed differently fromthe other home devices (the light lamp, the air conditioner, and the TV)on the display window 1110. On another display window 1130, operationstate information of the robot vacuum cleaner 1111, received from theHGW 120, is displayed. Although the operation of the home device hasbeen described as an example for convenience′ sake in the foregoingembodiment, detailed/stepwise operation control or movement (for amobile home device) may also be possible through detailed designation ofthe control command.

In another embodiment, the mobile terminal 200 of the user may send arequest to the HGW 120 to receive operation states of home devices inthe form of video or still images through at least one CCTV(hereinafter, referred to as a camera) installed in home, for example,on a room basis. In this case, the mobile terminal 200 sends a homemonitoring request message to the HGW 120. In response to the requestmessage, the HGW 120 controls at least one home device including thecamera to collect image data and transmits video information collectedon a room basis to the mobile terminal 200. In an example of FIG. 12,suppose that a camera is installed in each room. A room-basis imageshows a room name 1201 and an in-room captured image 1203 as illustratedin FIG. 12.

Hereinafter, a procedure for remotely controlling a home deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 13 to 15.

In FIGS. 13 to 16, one home device 140 is illustrated for convenience′sake, but in practice, multiple home devices 140 are connected with theHGW 120. Also, a description will be made using an example of the mobileterminal 200 as a user device that is a smart device for remote control.

FIG. 13 is a ladder diagram illustrating determining remote controlprocedure executed in a home network system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. Although now illustrated, the HGW 120 mayreceive operation state information from the home device 140 in homeperiodically or at the request, and the HGW 120 is assumed to confirmthe operation state of the home device 140 based on the receivedoperation state information.

In step 1301 illustrated in FIG. 13, when the user desires to operatethe home device 140 from a remote place, the user executes a remotecontrol application for remote control of the home device in the mobileterminal 200 through a touch input, gesture, or voice command. Once theremote control application is executed, in step 1303, the mobileterminal 200 sends a control command to the HGW 120 in the mannerdescribed in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B. Thecontrol command in step 1303 may be, for example, a control command forcontrolling an operation of the home device 140 or a control command forrequesting transmission of the floor plan information.

In step 1305, the HGW 120 determines whether the control commandreceived from the mobile terminal 200 is a control command forrequesting the floor plan information or a control command forcontrolling the operation of the home device 140. If determining thatthe received control command is the control command for requesting thefloor plan information, the HGW 120 transmits the floor plan informationfor controlling a home device on a room basis as illustrated in FIG. 11to the mobile terminal 200, in step 1307. In step 1309, if the userhaving confirmed the floor plan information inputs/selects a controltarget home device 140 and control details through the mobile terminal200, the mobile terminal 200 generates a control command including thecontrol details, identification information of the control target homedevice 140, and user authentication information, and sends the controlcommand to the HGW 120.

If determining that the received control command is the control commandfor controlling the operation of the home device 140 in step 1305, theHGW 120 skips step 1307. An information configuration of the receivedcontrol command is the same as the control command received in step1309. In step 1311, the HGW 120 identifies identification informationincluded in the control command to determine the target control homedevice 140, and the HGW 120 sends the control command including thecontrol details to the home device 140 in step 1313. When the controltarget home device 140 is selected, a home device in an unable state ora malfunction state (for example, the home device having a malfunctionpossibility because of using a rated power exceeding a reference valueor having an operating temperature exceeding a reference value, that is,having a value indicating an operation state, which exceeds a referencevalue) may be excluded from the target control home device 140, even ifreceiving the control command for controlling the operation from themobile terminal 200. The home device 140 having received the controlcommand executes an operation corresponding to the control details, andtransmits processing result information corresponding to the executionof the operation to the HGW 120 in step 1315.

In step 1317, the HGW 120 transmits the processing result information tothe mobile terminal 200 which then provides the processing resultthrough a UI provided in the remote control application.

<Table 1> and <Table 2> show examples of various control modes andcontrol schemes that may be executed in the HGW 120 through the controlcommand according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

TABLE 1 Control Auto Mode Comprehensively control energy consumptionMode of all home devices in home (Ex. an out mode, a warm-up mode, asaving mode, and the like) Room-Specific On/off-control a user-selectedroom Auto Mode Home-Device- Control each user-selected home deviceSpecific Saving Mode Artificial Comprehensively determine temperature,Intelligence luminous intensity, presence of a person in a Mode room forcollective artificial-intelligence control

TABLE 2 Control Power off Ex.) Power off a home device and switch anMode operation of the home device into a sleep mode Power on Ex.) Poweron a home device and perform detailed control of the home device such asraising the set temperature of an air conditioner, lowering the settemperature of an electric heater, and adjusting the brightness of alight lamp Detailed Ex.) Detailed control, such as adjusting the controlbrightness of a light lamp, recording a channel or a program of a TV,adjusting a laundry mode during an operation of a laundry machine,adjusting a temperature of an air conditioner, and the like

An information configuration of the processing result informationdelivered from the home device 140 to the HGW 120 in step 1315 is asshown in <Table 3>.

TABLE 3 Processing Identification Identification information of acontrol target Result Information home device (for example, a serialnumber) Information Processing State information of a home device afterResult execution of an operation Ex.) an on/off state, a temperaturesetting state, a light brightness level, and so forth Safety Included incase of occurrence of an Control abnormal state Ex.) over-current,over-power, high-temperature, dust state, and so forth

An information configuration transmitted from the HGW 120 to the mobileterminal 200 in step 1317 may be the same as that shown in <Table 3>, orthe identification information may be used as, for example, uniqueidentification information determined by the HGW 120. The uniqueidentification information may include information identifying at leastone of the HGW 120 and the home device 140. The mobile terminal 200 maydisplay the processing result information in step 1317, for example, ina manner shown in <Table 4>.

TABLE 4 Processing Screen Display an icon and a processing result of aResult Configuration home device, Re-instruct execution of a Displaycontrol command in case of a failure in execution of the controlcommand, and the like Processing Animation effects and audio effectsResult corresponding to control details Ex.) Change the brightness of anicon for light lamp control, apply animation effects to the speed oramount of wind for air conditioner control, and reproduce soundgenerated in a turbo mode of an actual air conditioner in case ofturbo-mode driving of the air conditioner Integration Display a controlcommand processing result with CCTV as a small screen on a room-specificCCTV image

FIG. 14 is a ladder diagram illustrating a procedure for providing anoperation state of a home device in the form of video information inexecution of remote control in a home network system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 14, an operation in step 1401 is assumed to be the same as theremote control procedure of FIG. 13. However, in an embodiment of FIG.14, processing result information transmission of step 1317 of FIG. 13may be selectively performed.

Referring to FIG. 14, in step 1403, the mobile terminal 200 sends amessage requesting transmission of image information of a room in whichthe control target home device 140 or the corresponding home device 140is located to the HGW 120. Then, the HGW 120 sends a camera operatingcommand for controlling at least one home device 140 including a camerain response to the request message in step 1405, collects image data ofthe room in which the control target home device 140 or thecorresponding home device 140 is located in step 1407, and transmits theimage information including the image data collected on a home-devicebasis or on a room basis in step 1409.

In step 1411, the mobile terminal 200 displays the received imageinformation, for example, as in the example of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a ladder diagram illustrating a remote control procedureexecuted in a home network system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, in which the remote control procedure is executedusing the voice recognition sensor 115 installed in home as in theembodiments of FIGS. 2B and 5.

Referring to FIG. 15, the in-home voice recognition sensor 115recognizes a user's voice command in step 1501 and delivers the voicecommand to the HGW 120 in step 1503. The HGW 120 interprets the voicecommand using a voice recognition algorithm in step 1505, and determinesa control target home device based on the interpreted voice command instep 1507. For example, if the voice command is “Start laundry”, thenthe HGW 120 recognizes the word “laundry” and determines that thecontrol target home device is a laundry machine, and recognizes the word“start” as control details and determines to turn on the laundry machineand to start the operation of the laundry machine.

In step 1509, the HGW 120 delivers the control command to the homedevice 140 based on the determination of step 1507, and the home device140 which has executed the control command feeds processing resultinformation back to the HGW 120. Then, in step 1513, the HGW 120transmits the processing result information to preset user devices (forexample, a smart TV, a mobile terminal, a tablet PC, and so forth). Step1513 may be selectively performed.

FIG. 16 is a ladder diagram illustrating a remote control procedurebased on a user profile in a home network system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, in which the remote controlprocedure is executed using the voice recognition sensor 115 installedin home as in the embodiments of FIGS. 2B and 5.

Referring to FIG. 16, in step 1601, the HGW 120 receives, registers, andstores user-specific voice information for voice recognition of eachuser and authority information for operation control of a home device ina predetermined authority range for each user. Input of a user profilemay be performed through the mobile terminal 200 of each user or the HGW120. The user-specific voice information may be registered and stored inthe HGW 120 by using the voice recognition sensor 115. When registeringthe user-specific voice information, the HGW 120 executes a voicecommand (that is, control command) of a registered user and does notexecute a voice command of a non-registered user.

After the user profile for at least one user is registered and stored instep 1601, the in-home voice recognition sensor 115, if recognizing auser's voice command in step 1603, delivers the recognized voice commandto the HGW 120 in step 1605. The HGW 120 interprets the voice commandusing a voice recognition algorithm in step 1607, and the HGW 120determines based on the user profile whether the user inputting thevoice command is a registered user in step 1609. If the HGW 120determines that the user is not the registered user in step 1609, theHGW 120 indicates/sends a notification message indicating that the useris not the registered user in step 1611. The notification message may bein the form of a text or voice message output through the UI 128 of theHGW 120. The notification message may be sent to the mobile terminal 200of the registered user to indicate that a non-registered user attemptscontrol using a voice command.

If determining that the user is the registered user in step 1609, theHGW 120 determines based on the user profile whether the corresponding(voice) command is in a range of a user authority, that is, the userauthority is given to the corresponding (voice) command in step 1613. Ifdetermining that the user authority is not given, the HGW 120 goes tostep 1611 to indicate/send a notification message indicating that theuser authority is not given to the corresponding (voice) command. Inthis case, likewise, the notification message may be in the form of atext or voice message output through the UI 128 of the HGW 120. If theuser sends the voice command through the mobile terminal 200, thenotification message may be sent to the mobile terminal 200. Ifdetermining that the user authority is given to the corresponding(voice) command in step 1613, a control target home device is determinedbased on the interpreted voice command in step 1615. For example, if thevoice command is “Start laundry”, the word “laundry” is recognized todetermine that the control target home device is the laundry machine andthe word “start” is recognized as control details to turn on the laundrymachine and start the operation of the laundry machine. Steps 1613 and1615 may be performed together.

In step 1619, the HGW 120 delivers the control command to thecorresponding home device 140 based on the determination of step 1615,and the home device 140 having executed the control command feedsprocessing result information back to the HGW 120. In step 1621, the HGW120 transmits the processing result information to preset user devices(for example, a smart TV, a mobile terminal, a tablet PC, and the like).Step 1621 may be selectively performed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A remote control method in a home network systemcomprising multiple home devices, the remote control method comprising:receiving operation state information from the respective multiple homedevices; receiving a control command for operation control of at leastone of the multiple home devices from a user device; determining acontrol target home device based on the control command; sending thecontrol command to the determined control target home device; receivingprocessing result information corresponding to execution of the controlcommand from the control target home device; and transmitting theprocessing result information to the user device.
 2. The remote controlmethod of claim 1, wherein the control command received from the userdevice is generated by recognizing a voice command.
 3. The remotecontrol method of claim 1, wherein the control command comprises atleast one of identification information of a corresponding home device,control details for the operation control, and authenticationinformation of the user device.
 4. The remote control method of claim 1,wherein the determining of the control target home device comprisesexcluding a home device, which has a malfunction possibility because avalue indicating an operation state exceeds a reference value, from thecontrol target home device among the at least one home device.
 5. Theremote control method of claim 1, further comprising: providing floorplan information indicating room-specific arrangement of the multiplehome devices and operation states of the multiple home devices to theuser device, if the control command received from the user devicecomprises a request for providing the floor plan information.
 6. Theremote control method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting imageinformation comprising image data, which is acquired by controlling atleast one home device equipped with a camera among the multiple homedevices, to the mobile terminal, if receiving an image informationrequest for the control target home device from the user device.
 7. Theremote control method of claim 1, further comprising: interpreting areceived voice command and generating a control command for theoperation control of the at least one home device, if receiving thevoice command recognized by at least one voice recognition sensor. 8.The remote control method of claim 7, wherein the voice recognitionsensor is mounted on at least one of the at least one home device. 9.The remote control method of claim 1, further comprising: registering auser profile comprising user-specific voice information for voicerecognition and user-specific authority information for the operationcontrol of the at least one home device.
 10. The remote control methodof claim 9, further comprising: determining based on the user profilewhether to execute the control command, if receiving the controlcommand.
 11. The remote control method of claim 1, wherein the userdevice comprises at least one of a smart Television (TV), a mobileterminal, a tablet Personal Computer (PC), a remote controller, and anInternet Protocol (IP)-based wired/wireless phone.
 12. A gatewayapparatus for remote control in a home network system comprisingmultiple home devices, the gateway apparatus comprising: at least onecommunication module configured to communicate with the multiple homedevices and a user device in a wired/wireless manner; and a controllerconfigured to control operations of receiving operation stateinformation from the respective multiple home devices, receiving acontrol command for operation control of at least one of the multiplehome devices from a user device, determining a control target homedevice based on the control command, sending the control command to thedetermined control target home device, receiving processing resultinformation corresponding to execution of the control command from thecontrol target home device, and transmitting the processing resultinformation to the user device.
 13. The gateway apparatus of claim 12,wherein the control command received from the user device is generatedby recognizing a voice command.
 14. The gateway apparatus of claim 12,wherein the control command comprises at least one of identificationinformation of a corresponding home device, control details for theoperation control, and authentication information of the user device.15. The gateway apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller furthercontrols an operation of excluding a home device, which has amalfunction possibility because a value indicating an operation stateexceeds a reference value, from the control target home device among theat least one home device.
 16. The gateway apparatus of claim 12, whereinthe controller further controls an operation of providing floor planinformation indicating room-specific arrangement of the multiple homedevices and operation states of the multiple home devices to the userdevice, if the control command received from the user device comprises arequest for providing the floor plan information.
 17. The gatewayapparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller further controls anoperation of transmitting image information comprising image data, whichis acquired by controlling at least one home device equipped with acamera among the multiple home devices, to the mobile terminal, ifreceiving an image information request for the control target homedevice from the user device.
 18. The gateway apparatus of claim 12,wherein the controller further controls an operation of interpreting areceived voice command and generating a control command for theoperation control of the at least one home device, if receiving thevoice command recognized by at least one voice recognition sensor. 19.The gateway apparatus of claim 18, wherein the voice recognition sensoris mounted on at least one of the at least one home device.
 20. Thegateway apparatus of claim 12, the controller further controls anoperation of registering a user profile comprising user-specific voiceinformation for voice recognition and user-specific authorityinformation for the operation control of the at least one home device.21. The gateway apparatus of claim 20, the controller further controlsan operation of determining based on the user profile whether to executethe control command, if receiving the control command.
 22. The gatewayapparatus of claim 12, wherein the user device comprises at least one ofa smart Television (TV), a mobile terminal, a tablet Personal Computer(PC), a remote controller, and an Internet Protocol (IP)-basedwired/wireless phone.
 23. A remote control method in a home networksystem comprising multiple home devices, the remote control methodcomprising: sending a control command for operation control of at leastone of the multiple home devices to a Home GateWay (HGW) that collectsoperation state information of the multiple home devices and controlsoperations of the multiple home devices; and receiving processing resultinformation corresponding to execution of the control command from theHGW in response to the sending of the control command, wherein thecontrol command is generated by recognizing a voice command of a user.24. The remote control method of claim 23, wherein the control commandcomprises at least one of identification information of a correspondinghome device, control details for the operation control, andauthentication information of the user device.
 25. The remote controlmethod of claim 23, further comprising receiving floor plan informationindicating room-specific arrangement of the multiple home devices andoperation states of the multiple home devices from the HGW, if thecontrol command received from the user device comprises a request forproviding the floor plan information.
 26. The remote control method ofclaim 23, further comprising registering a user profile comprising voiceinformation of the user and user-specific authority information for theoperation control of the at least one home device in the HGW.
 27. Theremote control method of claim 26, further comprising receiving anotification message indicating whether the user is a registered userbased on the user profile from the HGW.
 28. The remote control method ofclaim 26, further comprising receiving a notification message indicatingwhether authority of the user is given to the control command based onthe user profile from the HGW.
 29. A user device for remote control in ahome network system comprising multiple home devices, the user devicecomprising: at least one communication module configured to communicatewith a network entity that controls operations of the multiple homedevices; and a controller configured to control operations of sending acontrol command for operation control of at least one of the multiplehome devices to a Home GateWay (HGW) that collects operation stateinformation of the multiple home devices and controls operations of themultiple home devices and receiving processing result informationcorresponding to execution of the control command from the HGW inresponse to the sending of the control command, wherein the controlcommand is generated by recognizing a voice command of a user.
 30. Theuser device of claim 29, wherein the control command comprises at leastone of identification information of a corresponding home device,control details for the operation control, and authenticationinformation of the user device.
 31. The user device of claim 29, whereinthe controller further controls an operation of receiving floor planinformation indicating room-specific arrangement of the multiple homedevices and operation states of the multiple home devices from the HGW,if the control command received from the user device comprises a requestfor providing the floor plan information.
 32. The user device of claim29, wherein the controller further controls an operation of registeringa user profile comprising voice information of the user anduser-specific authority information for the operation control of the atleast one home device in the HGW.
 33. The user device of claim 32,wherein the controller further controls an operation of receiving anotification message indicating whether the user is a registered userbased on the user profile from the HGW.
 34. The user device of claim 32,wherein the controller further controls an operation of receiving anotification message indicating whether authority of the user is givento the control command based on the user profile from the HGW.